Lubbock Left

Tonight I will be liveblogging President Obama’s State of the Union Address. I tried this once before with modest success. If you’re down, I’ll see you back here at 8pm CST in the comment section.

7:44 — Wrapping up an episode of “Teen Mom.” Oh, the joys of sharing a TV. :) If you want to watch online, check out http://cspan.org or http://whitehouse.gov

7:56 — lol@msnbc: “What is the meaning of not eating his [Obama’s] pie?”

8:01 — Damn right we need followthrough on health care reform… (msnbc commentators)

8:07 — mic trouble?

8:09 — Rachel Maddow laying down the truth — Republican Party does not negotiate or participate, only says “No.”

8:12 — Progress is not inevitable; it takes work. Very true, Mr. President.

8:14 — I like the honest perspective we are getting here. No perfunctory “state of our union is strong.” No sugar-coating.

8:16 — “strained but hopeful, stuggling but encouraged.” Anonymous female letter-writer, good for you!

8:17 — Decency and strength — a good juxtaposition.

8:18 — “We all hated the bank bailout.” “About as popular as a root canal.” Necessary, but not popular. Tough sell, but true.

8:20 — Fees for the biggest banks. Very popular — I think even the Republicans clapped…?

8:21 — A list of tax cuts. Eat your heart out, non-clapping Republicans.

8:22 — Income tax hasn’t been raised either. Still no GOP applause.

8:23 — McCain… so sleepy…

8:24 — Jobs bill! USA! USA!

8:25 — At least the GOP will clap when you say “business.”

8:26 — GOP not clapping for loans to small banks? WTF?

8:27 — Ah, the old white men like it when you say “eliminate capital gains tax,” even if it’s just for investing in small businesses.

8:28 — High speed rail! America finally entering the 21st century.

8:29 — Eliminating tax breaks for companies that outsource, and give tax breaks to companies that create jobs here. Right on.

8:30 — An American lost decade, with climbing costs and no job or income growth. Yyyyyyyup.

8:31 — Washington says “wait.” Other nations do not. No 2nd Place for America.

8:33 — Fixing the problems that are hampering our growth. Financial reform! Real reform!

8:34 — Energy innovation. Batteries. Solar Panels. More production, and more incentives, are needed. Oh, GOP loves nuclear power. There’s the applause. And for oil and gas.

8:36 — Don’t believe in global warming? Do it for your (business) country, then.

8:37 — We need to export more goods. Goal: double exports over the next 5 years.

8:39 — S. Korea, Columbia, and Panama are “key partners.”

8:40 — “The best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education.”

8:41 — Senate: quit dragging your feet and pass the community college bill passed by the House.

8:41 — Tax credits for college, and increase Pell grants. Good stuff.

8:42 — Child care tax credit doubling. Tax credit for nest egg. Saving on mortgage payments. Yeah, clap for it, dummies. Ah, here we go: health insurance reform.

8:44 — “Let’s clear a few things up.” Like, remembering to have a heart. Time to remember why we overwhelmingly want health care reform in this country. Oh, Michelle Obama looks bored as hell.

8:46 — The process of creating health care legislation really is the thing that has turned off most Americans. But we’re so close! The President is right — don’t walk away from America, Congress!

8:48 — “Let me know.” Like the GOP has a plan for health care reform. GOP just got called out, albeit diplomatically.

8:49 — 2000: budget surplus of 200 billion dollars, 2009: 1 trillion dollar budget deficit.

8:51 — Is this the beginning of Hooverism… in 2011?

8:53 — Bipartisan fiscal commission… a smattering of polite clapping.

8:54 — Executive order to create the aforementioned commission. Hmm.

8:54 — “That’s how budgeting works.” Haha, nice.

8:55 — For 8 years we did nothing to solve our national problems while simultaneously coddling the rich. We are not going back to that!

8:56 — A deficit of trust (in Washington). The credibility gap. That’s right — now do it.

8:57 — Lobbyist… murmur murmur murmur… YES — YOU BETTER SAY THAT ABOUT THE SUPREME COURT DECISION

8:58 — “Continue down the path of earmark reform.” Sounds like a 12-step program for elves.

8:59 — Earmarks on a website… now it sounds like World of Warcraft.

9:00 — He’s right — we have to get out of this eternal-campaign mode.

9:02 — Hell yeah, Democrats — grow a pair!

9:02 — Just saying “no” is not good leadership. Hear that, Mitch?

9:04 — “Do what it takes to defend our nation.”

9:05 — Troops in Afghanistan to start coming home in July 2011…

9:06 — Combat troops out of Iraq.

9:07 — Support veterans when they come home!

9:08 — The largest increase in support for veterans in decades.

9:09 — AFAIK Reducing nuclear proliferation wasn’t exactly the way Reagan did it… Anyway, keeping nukes out of terrorist hands is definitely a priority.

9:10 — There’s this thing called “diplomacy,” you see.

9:11 — Haiti.

9:12 — Unity in diversity. Remember that.

9:13 — Prosecuting civil rights violators. Fighting hate crime. Aaaaand now we get to ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

9:15 — Values! American values! And doubts!

9:16 — Cynicism and disappointment. Change isn’t easy, and the President can’t do it alone.

9:18 — Setbacks, some deserved. Determination and optimism. Fundamental decency.

9:20 — A nice wrap-up.

9:30 — Republican response has a live audience…? Ooookay.

9:32 — “taxation, regulation, litigation.” Uh huh. Not the same thing, or even the same catagory of thing.

9:33 — “proper, limited level of government at every level.” At odds with his next line.

9:34 — Oh that’s rich — cooperation, not partisanship.

9:35 — Insurance across state lines and tort reform are not sufficient for solving the health care crisis.

9:37 — “School choice” in GOP-speak means destroying public education.

9:38 — Did… did this dude just advocate for not giving miranda rights to the crotch bomber? It sounds like he’s saying it’s a shame we didn’t start torturing him right away. Waterboard him, before we lose that critical intelligence! Ughhh.

9:40 — Governor-for-11-days knows all about Governor-ing! He understands half of Federalism, I think.

9:42 — Well, this dude did better than Bobby Jindal, at least.